Graduate School Newsletter

March 2025

Important Announcements

Message from the Dean

Dear Graduate Students,

The following message was sent to your Deans and Department Heads:

Montana State University has 1,989 graduate students, with 489 students having GTA appointments and 444 having GRA appointments this semester.   

The GTA tuition waivers and stipends are primarily paid with general fund dollars (state taxpayer dollars and tuition) and that funding is secure for this semester and, likely, for the next two years.  

The GRA tuition waivers and stipends are paid by externally funded grants from a variety of funding sources, including federal agencies, state agencies, private industry and non-profit organizations. Normally, grant funding continues through the duration of the grant. However, it is possible that a funding agency could reduce or eliminate payments with little or no notice.

We have directed principal investigators to be cautious about expenditures and to prioritize people over any other expenses. Individual labs may have multiple sources of funding that could provide opportunities to re-allocate resources, if necessary and allowable by the funding agency. There is no central pool of funds to replace discontinued grant funds, and we cannot provide any assurances that students will not be impacted by a loss of funding.

We will work with students and their advisors to provide connections to available resources and support services if needed.

Upcoming Dates & Deadlines

Full List of Grad School Dates & Deadlines

Mar. 17– Spring break (no classes; offices open)
Mar. 26 – Priority registration opens.
Apr. 15 –Last day to drop with a W.
Apr. 18 –University Day (no classes; offices open)
Apr. 25 –Last day to complete a comprehensive exam or thesis/dissertation defense if graduating spring 2025.
May 2 –Last day for ETD formatting approval from the formatting advisor. 5PM deadline. Submission of draft at minimum 2-3 weeks prior.

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Funding & Fellowships

Wildlife Habitat Scholarship

*NEW* The Crawford Wildlife Habitat Scholarship is available for all eligible graduate students to apply to each year (by March 15 for 2025). To be considered eligible, you should be engaged in or interested in conducting research, education, outreach, and/or creative activities in wildlife habitat areas. Please visit the Crawford Wildlife Habitat Scholarship Information page for application information. The recipients of this scholarship will receive $10,000 a year (each fall; master’s and doctoral students only).This funding can be combined with other funding the student may receive, internal and external. These are annual awards; eligible students are able to re-apply each year; master's students can receive the award for up to three (3) years; doctoral students for up to five (5) years.

GrantForward – Sign Up to Get Notifications for New Funding!

GrantForward is MSU’s relatively new funding opportunity search engine and works great for graduate student relevant opportunities. Anyone with a “montana.edu” email can create a free account, and then they can perform tailored searches for relevant funding opportunities including fellowships and research grants specifically for grads. Other awesome features include setting up saved searches to use again and again to find relevant opportunities as they become available, creating tailored funding opportunity lists to share in an email or link to a webpage, among many others.

Identify Scholarships and Research Funding for Your Graduate Education!

The MSU Graduate School maintains a Funding & Fellowships webpage listing various ways you may find funding throughout your time at MSU.

The University of Illinois has an excellent Fellowship Finder featuring awards that are open to grad students from any university. It features several filters to aid your search.

The National Research Council postdoctoral program is used by federal agencies across the country to support postdoc searches. This is a great place to look when you are close to finishing your PhD and the salaries are quite good. Quarterly application deadlines.

For more funding opportunities, visit MSU's Research Funding Opportunities and the MSU Graduate School's Funding and Fellowships webpage.

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Workshops & Events

Graduate Student Leadership Council Town Hall

Tuesday, March 4 | 4-6PM | Linfield 125

The Graduate Student Leadership Council (GSLC) wants to hear from you! The GSLC is hosting a town hall from 4-6pm on Tuesday March 4th in Linfield 125. Bring your questions, comments, and concerns and drop in at any time. Can’t attend in person? Share your feedback anonymously here.

ETD Drop-In Help Sessions

Wednesday, March 12 | 1-2PM| Romney 102
Thursday, March 27 | 9-10AM | Romney 102

The Graduate School is hosting a drop-in help session for electronic thesis and dissertation formatting. Bring your laptop and document. Please review the ETD website and watch the formatting/template videos beforehand: www.montana.edu/etd

Program of Study Student Drop-In Help Sessions

Thursday, April 3 | 10-11AM | Library Rm 15, Heathcote Classroom
Wednesday, April 9 | 1-2PM| Library Rm 15, Heathcote Classroom

The Graduate School is hosting a drop-in help session for graduate program of study and committee forms. We are in a computer lab, but you are also welcome to bring a laptop. Open to students, faculty, and staff.

Professional Development: GradCat 360

GradCat 360 is a comprehensive professional development program for graduate students at Montana State University. It is a series of programs and events designed by the Graduate School and departments across campus that center around nine focus areas. These areas are tailored to help students cultivate a unified set of skills and knowledge for educational success and professional preparation.

Check out our GradCat 360 Event Calendar, specifically curated for Graduate Students. We are constantly updating the GradCat 360 calendar with workshops and events that are uniquely useful for graduate students.

MSU Writing Center

The MSU Writing Center offers ongoing support to students working on graduate-level writing.